A Day To Never Be Forgotten
by PhoenixAlthor
Summary: Oh my god I'm not good with summaries. Ok, This is Lily and James' last year and this is set in one day where Lily finally realises that she is in love with James. It also happens to be on the day of the Gryffindor v Slytherin Quidditch mach. And yes i


A Day To Never Be Forgotten  
  
Hello, this is my first fanfic so if it sucks plz don't hurt me. Ok, this is basically about the day that Lily realised she loved James. I know it sounds a bit mushy and I suppose it is but I like writing this sort of stuff as I (hopefully) seem to be good at it. I have put some humour into it to make it a bit more interesting as well as the love theme (I just hope it's worked). I love writing about James and Lily as I find them interesting characters. I want to know more about them but J. K. Rowling only seems to let trickles of information about them out at a time. So, this is my interpretation of how Lily finally gave into her feelings and James ultimately got what he wanted after waiting for several years. I claim no ownership over anything in this story. Everything you recognise is her creation and hers only. But Sally Greenwood is mine and the plot is all mine too. Part from that everything else belongs to the genius mind and imagination of J. K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing her ideas for a bit. Ok, well, here I go ...  
  
Chapter One - Revelations and ... Confusion  
  
The day started like any other for Lily Evans. It was a Saturday morning and the first Quidditch match of the year was going to be underway in a few hours. The excitement and anxiety would meet her as she climbed her way out of bed and to breakfast. There would be mumblings and worried frowns from her fellow Gryffindors, following the nervous team. The Great Hall would be buzzing, quivering with anticipation; while the team would sit, not eating a thing, trying not to look as if they were about to throw up. The first match of the season was always Gryffindor v Slytherin. The two houses HATED each other and so, in true sportsmanship, they were the first to battle it out on the Quidditch pitch, to separate the strong from the weak.  
  
When Lily had first started at Hogwarts, she didn't have a clue what Quidditch was as she was born into a muggle family who had never even believed in magic until that letter from Hogwarts came through her letterbox. It took her a lot of getting used to, the magical world. But as she got into the swing of things, Quidditch came along and soon became her favourite sport (even beating the ever popular muggle sport of Tennis that she used to watch, like, all of the time). Lily became so keen; she had even tried out for her team in her third year for the Chaser position. But she found out that she wasn't as good on a broom as she thought. It takes a great deal of skill and determination to play that demanding sport.  
  
Lily quickly got herself ready and dressed, and before rushing downstairs, she stood in front of her mirror and paused. Her gorgeous red hair, which spilled onto her shoulders in a shower of waves, was shining enthusiastically in the pale November sunshine peeping into her dorm room. Giving it a quick brush and tying it back in a ponytail she was just about done. The final touch up was a layer of mascara on her long, full eyelashes emphasising her beautiful green eyes that shone like emeralds. They were her best feature so she showed them off as much as she could. They had an incredible pulling power so strong, if she put on her puppy dog look, just about any guy would do what she wanted. But she didn't always do this; it was a rarity for Lily to take advantage of her looks (well, except when it came to a guy she fancied) so she usually kept herself to herself. She wondered why she was putting make up on and stopped. She seemed to be doing it a lot lately and she didn't have a clue why. Well .... maybe there was the small fact of .... no! No, no, no, no, no, NO! Lily shook herself to try and knock some sense into her head. NO! Drawing a deep sigh she finally headed down for breakfast.  
  
Walking past the Slytherin table there were sneers and nasty comments made about her. She knew what they all thought of her, and she had gotten used to it. But she thought they might have calmed down this year as she had been made Head Girl, but no. Lily allowed a small giggle to herself as the memories of Lucius Malfoy asking her out last year still brought a smile to her face. Actually, a few Slytherins, even if they wouldn't admit it now, had fancied her before now. Shaking her head in disbelief, Lily carried on to the Gryffindor table to find her friends. Spotting the Gryffindor team down at the end of the long table, farthest away from the teachers, her predictions from before were proved right.  
  
And yes, they looked terrified. Unable to eat anything, just staring at their food like it was a ticking time bomb. All white faced. The youngest player there, Colin Johnstone, who played Beater kept looking as if he were going to faint. This was his first match and was absolutely petrified of the Slytherins. Surprisingly, or maybe not, there was one player who appeared completely relaxed and comfortable as he sat and talked animatedly to his best friend opposite him. James Potter never seemed to be phased by anything. Him, Sirius, Remus and Peter always taunted the Slytherins anyway and a Quidditch match was just a fun way of humiliating them in front of the whole school.  
  
Ah, James Potter. An interesting subject, very interesting. Lets see now; he's smart, handsome, popular, Head Boy and the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. No wonder he always seemed to have a swarm of girls hanging around him day and night. But not Lily. She wasn't going to throw herself at the feet of that arrogant pig. Well, he might not be so arrogant now; he has grown up at bit. And he is good looking and I suppose he does have an incredibly fit body ... Lily scolded herself for making such excuses for him. She was never, NEVER going to let herself be swept away by him, EVER!  
  
To stall the moment when she would have to sit near to James to wish him luck, Lily instead wandered over to the Ravenclaw table to have a quick chat with her friend, Sally Greenwood. She was a pretty girl with shoulder length blonde hair and pale blue eyes, a cheeky grin and a great sense of humour. She was talking to this younger dark haired boy who seemed content on just looking at her, not taking in a word she was saying to him. Sally had that effect on boys.  
  
As Lily walked past the Gryffindor table, she chanced a glimpse at James and their eyes met. He flashed her one of those heart-melting smiles. Lily's stomach did a back flip and butterflies seemed to rise up into her mouth. Blushing slightly, she turned away and walked determinedly towards Sally without another sideways glance. Sitting next to her friend, the dark haired boy gave up his attempt to please Sally and skulked away to his eager looking friends at the other end of the table.  
  
"What did he want?" Lily enquired.  
  
An evil grin had spread across her friend's face. "Aaw, you too embarrassed to sit with James. Or are you just too scared in case you blush again and make an idiot out of yourself?"  
  
"I don't know what you mean." Lily said, genuinely scandalised.  
  
Sally gave an exasperated sigh. "When are you going to admit that you fancy James Potter's pants off?"  
  
Lily's face was a picture. It was a mixture between anger, resentment, lost hope and ... laughter?  
  
Sally persisted on with, "Oh go on. You can't tell me that you've never thought about it. Especially," Sally whispered the next part, "that certain region on his body."  
  
Lily burst into a fit of giggles.  
  
"I would never think about - how dare you even - I am a respectable girl you know."  
  
That would have sounded convincing if it weren't for Lily still smiling and getting a fit of the giggles over again.  
  
"I knew it!" Sally cried in triumph. "And I don't blame you! I highly recommend him to any girl, especially you cause I know you've been dreaming of it for years now."  
  
Lily quickly came back down to earth and said with a cheeky smile, "What do you mean 'I highly recommend him'?"  
  
"Well ..." Sally hesitated.  
  
Lily took in a great gasp. "Oh my GOD! You haven't?" From the look on Sally's face, Lily got her answer. "Oh my god, you have! How - I mean when - what?"  
  
Sally suddenly looked mortified. She looked away from her friend and began examining an ink stain on her robes. Determinedly not peering at Lily. Guilt written all over her face.  
  
Still not looking up, Sally started mumbling under her breath, spilling out all sorts of apologies. Her face blushing furiously, feeling absolutely horrified at what she had just admitted.  
  
"Sally, what's wrong?"  
  
I thought you would be angry." Sally whispered.  
  
"Angry? Why should I be angry?"  
  
Finally looking up into Lily's face, Sally stared into her eyes. "Cause I know that you have fancied him for years and I feel that I have betrayed your trust by going behind your back.  
  
After a long silence between them, Lily said with an astonishing voice, "I am not angry with you. And I've got no reason to be angry with you. He doesn't belong to me."  
  
"But you've fancied him for ages!"  
  
"No I haven't."  
  
"Liar!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Oh come on. I saw you when you were walking over here. James smiled at you and you practically fainted. I know you've always said that you will never throw yourself at his feet, but you've got to admit that you fancy him, cause I know you do. You bump into each other in the corridor and everyone must see the chemistry that goes on between you. You're made for each other, you're meant to be together. You're Soul mates." Sally said all in one breath.  
  
"No."  
  
"But I know you are just dying to ask me what he's like in bed."  
  
Yes, Lily did want to know, but she couldn't let herself be defeated in front of her friend. Oh my god, how dare she have these feelings. Lily Evans, Head Girl, smart and sophisticated, fall in love with James Potter? It was preposterous! Wait a minute, she had used the word love. Surely not, no, no, no!  
  
Seeing that her friend was having an argument with herself inside her head, Sally took this opportunity to tell Lily all about her experience anyway. "It was the most fantastic sex ever. And I'm not exaggerating. It was last year after that Quidditch match against Ravenclaw and he just asked me. Of course the first thought that came into my head was you and he said that you need never know." She hesitated to see Lily's reaction and saw that she seemed politely interested.  
  
"Anyway, he took me to some secret place. And then it happened. The most fantastic sex I've ever had. He never pretended he had feelings for me and I never pretended I had feelings for him. It was just sex, with no strings attached. Just a bit of fun."  
  
"You mean, you slept with him because he wanted to have it off with you?" Lily said, obviously outraged.  
  
"Well, yeah. But it's not what you think. -"  
  
"So you don't fancy him at all?"  
  
"Well no, but -"  
  
Then why did you do it?"  
  
Lily just couldn't understand the logic behind this. How could her best friend do that. She wasn't bothered about the fact that Sally had slept with James, that was alright. But what wasn't alright was that, everything was done wrong. They didn't have feelings for each other, yet they still did it. She just didn't understand.  
  
"Oh, you know how down I was feeling at the time, remember. Michael had just dumped me for that stick insect in the year below and I was feeling really depressed.  
  
"Still, that is no excuse -"  
  
"Let me finish." Sally interrupted. "Anyway, as I was saying, it was after the match and I was walking alone around the stadium when he saw me. We got chatting and I ended up pouring my heart out to him. And I mean, I told him everything. About how bad I was feeling since Michael dumped me and how I wasn't surprised he preferred her over me. I was ranting on for ages about my problems. Yet, James always listened. Anyone else apart from you would have been bored shitless, but he still listened. I felt loads better after talking to him. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. Then he told me loads of stuff about him.  
  
Sally paused at that point, not sure of whether she should go on.  
  
"What did he say to you?" Lily was very interested now. Her eyes were alight and shining with curiosity.  
  
"Well ... I'm not sure if I should be telling you."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone. But I can tell you that I saw a completely different side to James Potter that day. He is so infatuated with you I'm surprised he hasn't burst with frustration. He told me all about the feelings he had for you. And looking at him now, I'd say he still feels the same way. Ever since first year he has been trying to get you to out with him. And I know he's been with other girls, but he just didn't feel the same way about them as he does with you." Heaving a great sigh Sally went on. "He is totally head over heels in love with you. He couldn't stop talking about you."  
  
"But, I still don't get how all this lead onto sex."  
  
"Nor do I. But I suppose it might have been because we both felt lonely. It just happened. And I do not regret it for a second, although I did feel a bit guilty about how you would react if you found out."  
  
"I'm fine about it." Lily said reassuringly to her friend.  
  
"So you don't even feel a little bit jealous?"  
  
"No, cause I know it didn't mean anything."  
  
"You know what you should do?" And without waiting for an answer she went on. "Go over there right now and talk to him. Anyway, you need to eat something and this isn't your table."  
  
Lily stood up reluctantly and said. "What if I make a fool of myself?"  
  
Sally looked up at her and said in a serious voice. "Laugh at yourself. Now go on."  
  
Now she was stood up, she looked over everyone's heads and was searching for someone, her eyes rested on James. He had his back to her and she was internally grateful for that. At least he wouldn't look over and cause her to 'practically faint' again. Forking her hair with her hands, smoothing the waves, she was reluctant to move. Scared that she wouldn't be able to walk properly through nerves. She had never been this nervous before. What was wrong with her? Love, dear, that's what it is, a little voice in the back of her head told her. Angry with herself for thinking that, she pushed it out of the way. Right, it isn't that far over to the table. It was only a few metres away. One foot in front of the other and move forwards. The journey to the Gryffindor table felt like the longest she had ever taken. Lily blocked out all sound from her ears so she could only hear her thumping heart. Why was she so nervous? Maybe she did fancy James. Maybe, just maybe ...  
  
She made it. There was a free seat opposite James as Sirius had just gone off to flirt with a girl further up the table. Sitting down, she made to look as if she were only interested in the food in front of her. Bacon, sausages, eggs, cereal, bread, tomatoes ... After staring at it for several seconds, Lily realised she wasn't hungry. Keeping her head down, she felt someone's gaze on her. Without moving, she knew who it was. Slowly peering up, her eyes became level with a pair of deep hazel pools, full of mystery and intrigue. Lily felt her heart leap and flutter at the same time. They sat there for a few seconds just staring into each others eyes, not saying a word. Neither of them seemed to know what to say. Lily was just taking in James' appearance. For the first time in her life, she noticed him; with his dazzling eyes, black hair that would stick up at the back and his beautiful smile that would melt butter. She fully understood, for the first time why he had packs of girls chasing after him. And he was interested in Lily. Normal, ordinary, muggle-born Lily. He was interested in her ...  
  
Oh my God, what is wrong with me. She had always swore to herself she would NEVER throw herself at James' feet and here she was staring at him like he was a beautiful piece of jewellery or something. Got to get a grip of yourself! Realising all this, Lily looked away from James and started piling food onto her plate, not caring what she ate, as long as it kept her busy. Keeping her head down, she resumed with her eating.  
  
"Are you alright?" James asked  
  
At first, the voice never registered in Lily's mind and she kept eating. Taking a drink from her goblet, a face was peering across from her with concern on his face.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You seem distracted. I was wondering if you were OK?"  
  
Lily wished he wouldn't do that. Every time he put on his concerned look, his face was almost puppy dog innocence, almost. But it was enough.  
  
"Oh ... yeh," Lily stammered, "I'm fine." She said with a bit more firmness in her voice. It wouldn't do to look weak in front of James Potter. She was never weak in front of him.  
  
"Hungry?" James said glancing at her full plate.  
  
"Er, well ... not really." She said with a twitch of a smile.  
  
"Hey, I'm the one that is meant to be nervous, not you." James smiled, eyes sparkling.  
  
Lily really wished he wouldn't do that!  
  
Glad to grab onto the excuse of feeling nervous about the upcoming Quidditch match, Lily held onto it. "I don't know how you can be so calm."  
  
"Yeh, well, I'm well practised in playing Quidditch, especially against Slytherin. I have been in the team since second year. Anyway, I'm the Captain, I've got to show everyone I'm calm."  
  
"And you're the best Seeker Hogwarts has seen for centuries. You could play for England."  
  
James looked stunned for a couple of seconds and Lily wasn't surprised. She had just paid him a compliment. Lily never did that. He recovered just in time to make it look as if it had never happened.  
  
"Uh ... thanks.  
  
Before Lily could say anything back to him, James' face had suddenly gone very pale. He seemed to be looking at something over her left shoulder. Well, it couldn't be a Slytherin or a teacher cause he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of looking utterly terrified. It must be someone much, much worse.  
  
With a faked look of cool on his face he tried to look calm. Resting his chin on his hand, his elbow kept missing the table as he kept his eyes on the person standing opposite him. "Hello Sirius."  
  
"Hello!" He replied with a wicked grin on his face as he squeezed himself onto the bench to the left of Lily, squashing the girl on the other side. "So, what you two lovebirds talking about?"  
  
This was obviously what James was scared about. Whenever Sirius was with you, he would always speak his mind. Always. Sirius knew that James fancied Lily and was constantly taking the piss out of him. If he saw them talking together, you could count on Sirius to ruin it. Grinning like a mad Cheshire cat, he was full of energy. He kept fidgeting in his seat.  
  
"Food!" Sirius exclaimed and started piling his plate up with food.  
  
"But, you've just had your breakfast." James said.  
  
"Yeh, well, I'm hungry again. I seem to have a new burst of energy inside of me since Katie said yes."  
  
James buried his head in his hands with lost hope and groaned. Lily looked round at Sirius and said with astonishment, "Katie Molihn?"  
  
"The one and only." Sirius said with a grin.  
  
Lily suddenly had a worried frown on her face. "You'd better not mess her around."  
  
"You what? I never mess girls around."  
  
"Oh really." Lily said and with counting off her fingers she went on, "what about Maria, Natalie, Jessica, Nancy -"  
  
"Oh alright, alright. There may have been a few -"  
  
"- Oh and Sally Greenwood." Lily deliberately emphasised that name so it was directed at both Sirius and James. "What about her? All you seemed to want to do was to get her into bed."  
  
Well, it worked didn't it?" Sirius said with a shrug. Seeing the dangerous glint in Lily's eyes he tried to explain himself. "Look, I know she's your best friend and everything, but she wanted it as much as I did. And anyway, apparently I was the best shag she has ever had."  
  
Chancing a glance at James, she nearly burst out laughing. He had a distinct green tinge to his face and was looking mortified. Maybe he was scared that Lily had found out and was going to tell Sirius. Lily had the impression that James hadn't told his best friend about that night.  
  
"I don't think that is true. She has had someone better than you. A lot better than you." After saying that, she looked at James to show him that she knew.  
  
Taking in a small breath, James silently moved his mouth, not knowing what to say. "Uh ... eh ..." He mumbled. "I'd better get down to the pitch now."  
  
And with that, he was off.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Sirius was obviously confused. He hadn't worked out that it was James. "So who was it that was better than me? I want to know so I can beat the living shit out of him!"  
  
Lily who was staring out of the doorway into the Great Hall wasn't listening. Without answering Sirius' question, she too, took off and chased after James. Seeing him about to descend the front steps she called out to him. "James! Hey, James!"  
  
He looked round to see who was calling him. Spotting that it was Lily, he tried to escape down the stone steps to get away from her. It was probably his guilty conscience getting the better of him. Catching up she put out her arm to stop him.  
  
Looking round reluctantly, James peered at Lily with the most guilty look ever. "Look, Lily, I'm sorry -"  
  
Interrupting him she said, "Hey, I forgot to wish you luck." With that said she leaned towards his face and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
Pulling back she smiled at him, the sweetest smile she could muster and fluttered her eyelashes so her emerald eyes glinted in the light. Winking at him, she turned to walk away, heading back to the Great Hall to finish her breakfast.  
  
Leaving a stunned James, standing alone on the steps, enveloped in confusion.  
  
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Well, there it is. Read and Review please. And please be honest. This is just the first chapter of three. I will hopefully post the next two up soon but I can't promise anything. I have got majorly huge, important exams in a couple of weeks and I am in major panic mode. And I'm going on holiday with my best friend soon so, I'm gonna be a bit busy. Oh well, I'll post the next chapter when I can. But I want to know what you think of this first attempt. If it sucks, tell me. If it was good, tell me. 


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